Defending the Christian faith and promoting its wisdom against the secular and religious challenges of our day.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

U.S. Senate Chaplaincy – a Dying Light?

Despite all the misguided talk about the alleged “separation
of church and state,” prayer has always been a part of the Congress of the USA. “The
inclusion of a prayer before the opening of each session of both the House and
the Senate, traces its origins back to the days of the Continental Congress,
and the official recommendation of Benjamin Franklin, June 28, 1787”:

·“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer
I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God Governs in the
affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice,
is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured,
Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House they labour
in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without
his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than
the Builders of Babel . . . I therefore beg leave to move— that henceforth
prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our
deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to
business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to
officiate in that Service.” (Wikipedia)

We have come a long way. Just how far, in three short
decades, was illustrated to me by the homilies and prayers of Senate Chaplain Richard
C. Halverson (1981-95). In 1981, he warned the Senate:

·No great nation or empire was defeated from
without before it had rotted from within – spiritually, morally, ethically. America will be
no exception. She will be destroyed not by forces without, but by her own
decadence….the need is critical for her people to take a stand against the
conditions contributing to the pollution and corruption of American life.
Secular humanism, materialism, hedonism, self-indulgence, sexual
permissiveness, drunkenness, drug abuse – a cancer is ravaging America’s
health and strength. ((No Greater Power,
46)

It made me wonder what type of homily the Senate is now
feeding upon. Are their hearts still being convicted by the Truth? Halverson
concluded with this prayer:

·What will it take, O God, to make us know that
we cannot do it alone? What calamity must fall before we humble ourselves and
acknowledge our dependence on Thee?...Lord God help us. Quicken our minds to
seek Thy wisdom, our hearts to repent, our wills to obey Thee. Return us to the
noble dependence on Thee by which our forefathers persevered against incredible
odds to give us our grand national legacy. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

What light had been shed upon our Senate! Halverson had
predicted that without the Lord at our center, we will rot. Can you begin to
smell the stench?